Thursday, September 29, 2011

New logo: Virke

Yesterday, September 28, the Norwegian employers' organization HSH, which organises 15,000 businesses, many within the commerce and service industries, changed its name to Hovedorganisasjonen Virke. The new identity was developed by Brandlab Oslo over ten months.

The three-letter abbreviation HSH was generic as well as misguiding, as it was an abbreviation of a former name that contained "commerce" and "service", and the organization had expanded beyond those areas. It was scrapped for the more unique name Virke, which can be loosely translated as both "work" or "function". As Brandlab's case study explains, Virke wants to make the Norwegian work life work.

The new logo is a purple-pink wordmark designed to look unique and stand out. The odd V letterform is used as a separate visual device. In an interview with the Norwegian website Kampanje, designer Einar Hatlo says the colour was chosen to be both bold and politically neutral.